Exploring other people's and searching for mine

diet

Today marks exactly twelve months since my first post. That post is now my touch stone for when I question myself or need some focus. Finding My Thing has made for an interesting year and when I went back and looked at all of my posts, I am astonished at just how much I have written. I actually had forgotten a few of them. So I have decided to remind myself, and you, of a few of them. It’s really just shameless self promotion but I’m trying to make it sound deep and introspective. Is it working? So take a look, click on the links and let me know your favorites.

My First Yogaclass was my second ever post and it still cracks me up to think about that class. My friend Randi continues to help me understand yoga and I am so grateful for that. The drawback is that I now don’t need to go and see my friend Wendy quite so much for massage. A big part of finding my thing has been reconnecting with friends like Rob and finding out about their passions. I hope in some small way I have given back to them what they have given to me. Aimee’s cakesare continuing to amaze me and Sarina’scommitment to soccer for women is going strong. Jane’s struggle withBrain Injury continues but Making Pastry with her was good for both of us.

Really though, it has been all about me. LOL. Okay not in that way, but in a good way. In the year that I turned Fifty I have put my Darkest Times behind me and have learnt to relax. I’ve looked at my relationships with Friends. I’ve talked about my Regrets. I’ve made Marathon Decisionsand ended up Happy? I’m still running but rethinking spending 33 Hours in a Van again. I am now Sugar Free (well, only if you don’t count wine) and have never felt better. I have questioned my motives and direction but then a friend made me realize that I will Find My Way.

Thank you for reading and commenting. Here to another year of adventure.

If at any time during this post something doesn’t quite make sense, I will be blaming it on my current state of deprivation. You see, I am trying to rid my body of some nasty stuff, so I am on a sugar free diet. No, that does not mean that I can have all the sugar free soda and sugar free gum I want. It means I can eat protein, vegetables, seeds and some nuts. Yup, that’s it. No, I’m not kidding. Basically nothing that has sugar in it or that my body would convert to sugar. No sugar, no wheat, no dairy, no wine. WHAT? No wine. I am so screwed. I can eat rice though? No? WTF?

I am not doing this by choice. Well, that’s not entirely true. I could choose to not do it and continue to feel horrible and have weird arbitrary symptoms pop up every few weeks, but is that really an option? So, I have decide to heed the advice of my naturopath and change my ways. A few years ago I would have laughed at you if you said I should see a naturopath. My godmothers husband was a naturopath of sorts. He would wave a crystal attached to a string over people’s nail clippings and tell them what was wrong with them. So my perception of the field was a bit skeptical. I have, however, discovered that there are certain areas of health and well being that are better served by a different approach.

A couple of years ago I was feeling really run down. I wasn’t sleeping well, I felt nauseated in the mornings (nope, not that) I was anxious, not really sick but always just on the brink, chronic cold sores and my running ability was seriously going to the dogs. I went to my regular doctor and he said I should start on anti-depressants. “But, I’m not depressed”. I said. ” I know, but it might help anyway”. Really? How could it help? I’d feel like crap but I’d be happy? I left hos office feeling really disappointed in a man who I had trusted with the health of my family for years. I’ve since realized that there are some things that he is great for and some things that he is not. Conventional medicine is pretty black or white. You are sick or you aren’t. You have this or you have that. Not a lot of room for anything else.

So over the past couple of years I have explored some alternative ways of dealing with my overall health. This time around I have discovered that I can most likely deal with my current symptoms with changing my diet. I will admit that I have been hard on my body. I don’t have a high pressure job, but my husband travels a lot and I have had to hold down the fort (with kids in it) after a day of work on many occasions and weekends. I’m not a hard partier, but I like my wine. I’m not a marathon runner, but I do push myself physically. Running is my stress relief but I now know that running itself puts stress on your body. I’m not a junk food person but there have been times (I’m not proud of them) when I have been known to eat Nutella by the spoonful. There is said it. If you add all this up and on top of it put about eighteen months of a truly stressful time in my recent life, you could see how my body could be saying “Enough, I am done.” And that is what it has done.

Now, how to reverse the damage? Cut out all sugar from my diet for a minimum of one month. Just as a note to anyone doing this. Do NOT watch the Food Network. It will make you crazy. Take probiotics every day to restore the good things that should be in my body. Take it easy. That one is easier said than done for me. I have a run coming up in four weeks that will involve me running three legs of two hundred mile relay. I at least need to be able to do that.

So here I sit munching on buckwheat crackers trying not to think about cupcakes and sushi and anything with cheese in it and resisting the urge to lace up my runners. I have learned to embrace coconut flour, coconut oil and coconut milk as alternatives to many things. My trip to Whole Foods yesterday involved a good deal of time wandering the aisles searching for suitable foods. I have to say, they do make it fairly easy to find good, albeit pricey, products. Did you know that some people eat like this all the time. By choice. At the end of the day The Best Thing in Life is my health so I guess that I am now one of those people living this way by choice.